Balkans | Commemoration of the victims of the Ahmici massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina

A memorial service was held for the 116 Bosnian civilians killed by HVO forces on April 16, 1993 in the village of Ahmici, located near the city of Vitice in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The ceremony, which took place on the 30th anniversary of the massacre, began with the procession of the participants from Fitz’s martyrdom to the village of Ahmeci.

Denis Beserović, Bosniak member of the Presidency Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Husein Kavazović, President of the Islamic Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, British officer Bob Stewart, who served in the UN peacekeeping force in the war, and relatives of the victims attended the ceremony.

In his statement here, Beserović said, “Crimes against humanity are endless. We continue to witness lives destroyed, childhoods ruined, and hopes stolen for the victims. It is our enduring responsibility to speak the truth about those who were brutally murdered and to keep those truths alive.” He said.

“Politicians who openly threaten Bosnia and Herzegovina are still on the scene”

Referring to massacres of Bosniaks in the Bosnia-Herzegovina war, Bešerović said: “Unfortunately, the repeated threats of genocide cannot be eliminated. Politicians who openly threaten Bosnia-Herzegovina are still on the scene. We have no right to ignore these threats and treat them lightly.” He said.

He was one of the first to come to the village where the massacre took place in 1993, Stewart, who served in a UN peacekeeping force, said, adding that they weren’t aware of what was happening at first, but witnessed a great massacre. Horror after entering the village.

Ahmichi massacre

During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatian soldiers raided the village of Ahmici on April 16, 1993, during dawn prayers, killing 116 Bosnian civilians, including 32 women and 11 children. Among the dead at Ahmichi was a three-month-old infant whose body was later removed from the furnace.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands called the events in Ahmići a “crime against humanity” and sentenced the then HVO commanders and soldiers to prison terms from 6 to 25 years.

AA